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Bumbusi is a Zimbabwean archaeological site, surrounded by Hwange National Park, in Western Zimbabwe. It is not often visited because of its remote location and low tourist profile. The remains on the site resemble those of other archaeological sites in the Great Zimbabwe tradition. The Bumbusi National Monument consists of colossal stone walls, boulders, platforms and the ruins of dwellings. Its main structures date from the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Excavations in…

Great Zimbabwe is a city, now in ruins, in the south-eastern hills of Zimbabwe near Lake Mutirikwe and the town of Masvingo. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe during the country's Late Iron Age. Construction on the monument began in the 11th century and continued until the 15th century. 1 The edifices were erected by the ancestral Shona. 2 The stone city spans an area of 7.22 square kilometres (1,780 acres) which, at its peak, could have housed up to 18,00…

The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (1075–1220) was a pre-colonial state in Southern Africa located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers, south of Great Zimbabwe. The name is derived from either Venda or Shona. The name may mean "Hill of Jackals". The kingdom was the first stage in a development that would culminate in the creation of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe in the 13th century, and with gold trading links to Rhapta and Kilwa Kisiwani on the African east coast. The…

The Kingdom of Zimbabwe (c. 1220–1450) was a medieval BakaLanga kingdom located in modern-day Zimbabwe. Its capital, Lusvingo, now called Great Zimbabwe is the largest stone structure in precolonial Southern Africa. This kingdom came about after the collapse of the Maphungubwe kingdom. The rulers of Zimbabwe brought artistic and stonemasonry traditions from Mapungubwe. The construction of elaborate stone buildings and walls reached its apex in the kingdom. The Kingdom of…

The Kingdom of Mutapa (sometimes referred to as the Mutapa Empire, Mwenemutapa) was a Bantu kingdom of the Zezuru people centered in the Zambezi valley in what are the modern states of northern Zimbabwe, north western Mozambique and south eastern Zambia . According to Shona oral tradition, the Mutapa Empire was founded by a prince of Great Zimbabwe named Nyatsimba Mutota who in 1430 traveled north in search of salt. After defeating a tribe of elephant hunters who had the…

The Kingdom of Butua or Butwa (c. 1450 - 1683) was a pre-colonial African state located in what is now southwestern Zimbabwe. It arose from the collapse of Great Zimbabwe in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Butua was renowned as the source of gold for Arab and Portuguese traders. The region was first mentioned in Portuguese records in 1512. The kingdom was governed by the Torwa dynasty of the BakaLanga people until 1683. The ruling dynasty based its capital at the stone…

Khami (also written as Khame, Kame or Kami) is a ruined city located 22 kilometres west of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. It was once the capital of the Kalanga Kingdom of Butwa of the Tolwa dynasty. It is now a national monument, and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. The settlement that we see today was a development of the architectural form that emerged at Great Zimbabwe in the 13th century AD and a local Leopard's Kopje culture that built platforms of rough walling on…

The Rozvi Empire (1684–1834) was established on the Zimbabwean Plateau by Changamire Dombo. After Dombo's death, his successor adopted the title Mambo. The term "Rozvi" refers to their legacy as a Warrior Nation known as the plunderers. The Rozvi were formed from several Shona states that dominated the plateau of present-day Zimbabwe at the time. They drove the Portuguese off the central plateau, and the Europeans retained only a nominal presence at one of the fair-towns in…